Sun, 28 May 2017 11:04:21 +0000
By Mwiine Lubemba
Last Sunday we broke off at that point when we said:
In any case, today’s low cost environment is opening up new options for electricity generation, just as energy storage technology is coming of age.
Large companies are already investing heavily in energy storage batteries to meet growing demand for reinforcement of renewable energy supplies, in developed and emerging markets. So, if electrical energy generation is becoming cheaper in the developed and emerging markets how on earth is Zambia, a land locked country, with high transport costs to overseas markets— are we going to attract investors to our country compared to say RSA, Namibia and Mozambique, all countries with sea port and similar energy tariffs?
Remember also in my recent March 2017 article, I wrote: “Today, I’ll tell you why these two Zambian metals could become bigger than Lithium.” People didn’t pay attention. In it, I emphasized the urgency to start establishing science R&D centres to enable our young scientists and entrepreneurs carry out research in new technologies utilising our natural resources that have found extensive use in energy storage technologies and especially to start developing new efficient energy storage systems using our Cobalt mined at Chambeshi Non Ferrous Metals, Nickel being mined at Munali Nickel Mine, high grade Graphite ores found in Chama and Petauke, Manganese in Mkushi and Mansa, Thorium in the Eastern Province etc, instead of exporting these energy starting raw material metals in raw form. Again, most people just laughed.
Zambia can easily become a front runner in the global energy markets with its abundant assortment of metals currently used in renewable energy storage options. We’re in an excellent position to take a leadership role in energy storage systems which is still a young market with great worldwide potential. In my article, I emphasized that, we need to start making things that other people in the world will desperately want to buy from us! But people, I’m told, including two young fairly educated Cabinet Minister laughed at me…Aka kamudala nako uku yumfwa—kwati akaishiba fyonse keka -bonse twali sambilila—twalishba fyonse ifi..! (We know all these things this old man is talking about).
It’s true, these things are not rocket science, and we write about these things not because people don’t know about them, the idea is to promote informed discussion on the way forward, especially on how we can change the traditional mind-set of relying too much on importing everything we use in the country, and the way our economy has traditionally been planned and run.
Supporting this energy storage technology using our local metals would benefit not only our country but the whole Southern African region with its population of over 600 million people but also send a clear signal to the rest of the world of where Zambia is headed next. When President Lungu attended the Climate Change Conference in Marrakech Morocco in November last year, UN COP 22 emphasised continued investment in Africa’s clean energy growth. This is where the energy future is headed to regardless of what climate deniers like Mr Donald Trump says about clean energy solutions taking jobs away from the American people. Even at this conference, there were several innovative presentations from several small businesses in developing countries-(but none from Zambia)- that are at the crest of this critical market change.
If Zambia wants to grow its economy, we need to take research and development seriously. We need to develop technologies that can be used to store and manage electrical power efficiently. We need well-equipped R&D centres where our young men and women can develop software that uses artificial intelligence to manage on-grid and off-grid energy costs for small and large scale industries. We must develop our own set of new technologies on how we’re going to generate and distribute electricity. We need to challenge our young men and women to be innovative in ideas and technologies and on how we can lock in low-cost emissions-free renewable energy for domestic and industrial consumption.
Our abundant Cobalt, Manganese, Nickel, Thorium, Silica, Quartz, Beryl on the Copperbelt or Lundazi and Phosphate deposits in Petauke and many other too numerous to list metals used in today’s energy storage batteries give us a leading edge in exploring our own new energy storage technologies as a way to integrate new renewable energy generation resources and improve the stability and reliability of current and future grids in the SADC region and world. Now is the time to take Zambia’s economy to great heights, while energy storage technology remains young -this market is poised for dramatic expansion. Take it or leave it. We ignore at our Peril.
Without energy storage back up batteries for solar PV panels, solar will forever remain an expensive energy source for most Zambians as we will always revert to energy supplies from our same limited power supply sources from our Maamba thermal, Kariba, Kafue and Ithezi-Thezi for back up during times when PV solar farms are not generating enough power.
It’s not too late for the government, if they haven’t already done so, to also look into the current and future solar PV harvesting farm Tenders and advise these companies to include battery storage devices in their models so that these Solar PV harvesting farms can be able to provide dependable solar energy supply at extremely cost competitive pricing compared to our current traditional power sources. And I know most Zambians are aware of the need for R&D not only in new energy technologies, but many other areas including the way we waste our foreign exchange when building our homes….but where is the inertia coming from?
For example, to cut down the initial start-up costs, the Ministry of Energy and the Ministry of Mines can together ask for Cabinet approval to convert the New ERB office complex and the Nitrogen Chemicals of Zambia into Advanced Centres for Research in Science, Technology Development where all our Professors and Lecturers who I can assure you are currently bored with none brain cracking or exciting work because they merely sit idle in their offices going through and revising their old lecture teaching materials at UNZA, Mulungushi and CBU. These experts can now settle down at these research centres so that these men and women can start to do some serious supervisory and direct research and development work with help from various government institutions and Universities that will develop our country while they continue teaching at their various schools.
With regard to funding, the Minister of Finance can divert some or all of the astronomical ERB fees which are currently wasted on superfluous purchases and other things such as Board Meeting sitting allowances and stationery instead of developing R&D in the country. Additional funding can also come from various research work done or research patents that will be bought by the many companies and institutions in form of technology transfer. That’s how the so called developed nations have prospered because we keep buying technologies from them. The financial resources and a full staff compliment have always been with us waiting for us to start doing some serious research work on our own–not only in energy but in everything that the country will be competitive in…such as development of made in Zambia electric cars using locally developed high energy density Lithium-Cobalt-oxide cathodes and Graphite anodes storage batteries as an example, we have the steel industries coming up that can retool and make suitable steel alloys for cars and even water pumps because we have cable factories in place too … we can have Professor Yamba in charge, instead of abusing his vast and rich knowledge in Engineering announcing ZESCO tariffs. I also saw Professor Jolly Mwenechanya brilliant electrical engineer on a tour of Eastern Province talking to Paramount Chief Mpezeni about electrifying his thatched huts; we have many professors and Senior Lecturers current and retired frustrated and loafing. These are all world class team leaders. But indeed, if professionals like Professor Yamba want to continue announcing ZESCO and Petrol price increases, I’m sure they’re capable to do so while still supervising and conducting some serious R&D work. If some government officials insist and still think we should utilise rare, talented, high calibre manpower in our country to supplement our politicians by driving around visiting our rural areas talking to chiefs, I’m sure these experts can still do so. There are too many professionals and too many highly skilled Zambian artisans being abused for lack of a better term. If we’ve to become a serious respected nation, we’ve to take Research in science and technology development as a hobby to be enjoyed- not to be feared—we have to change our mind-set and the way we do things to develop and grow our country.
If there is something I’m always ashamed to see on TV or read in the newspapers, is our Minister of Finance globe-trotting with a horde of officials, and a begging bowl in hand to the IMF for a loan of US$1.6 billion. Meanwhile the IMF does not manufacture this money, so it must surely come or belong to other hard working nations who made things using their own labour and resources that we bought from them- the same things mined or grown in Zambia. A great man once said; “The best way to hide something from black people is to put it in a book.” Malcom X was also right for his “House Negro and the Field Negro lecture, though he was assassinated for it.
We have very educated people in our country with everything from professional certificates, degrees and PhDs holders, we have the internet and libraries, but we don’t want to use our vast knowledge base because the same white man has also invented WhatsApp, Facebook, Ingram, and Hang-up social platforms that distract our minds as we use them for gossip instead of acquiring knowledge from them. We want short cuts to development when we have the means to learn from books and in today’s information age –acquiring knowledge has become limitless. But we’d rather import already researched and developed technologies from other countries and comfort ourselves by saying we are in a hurry to develop; “We don’t want to reinvent the wheel.” And when those imported wheels break down, we are lost with what to do except to import more wheels –while those who have invested in research; the developed world- keep making more money from us, which money we also don’t have enough of. The same developed nations have also gone ahead of us and created Banks from where we rush to borrow more money to buy more things from them – we rush to the IMF so we can buy the same things from the same developed nations and the circle keeps widening. It’s been the same…since independence; the Developed Nations hide their knowledge in books because they know we are lazy to read. It’ll be the same when it comes to renewable energy and storage batteries technologies. We shall continue to buy technologies from Developed Nations the same things that they will be making from our own raw materials taken from our backyards. That’s why I said I’m ashamed to see Mutati rushing to the IMF for money to buy things from the same people who keep lending it to us.
Just a thought,
Sincerely,
